ORLANDO, Fla. — A local woman told Channel 9 that she is disgusted that no action was taken after a man violated her on a flight out of Orlando International Airport.
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She said a man sitting in her aisle started inappropriately touching himself mid-flight but was allowed to walk away without anyone questioning him.
Channel 9 exclusively sat down with the woman who didn’t want to be identified to protect her privacy.
The woman said she didn’t think anything of it when the man seated beside her told her about his trip to visit his daughter and grandson -- or when he offered her drinks, which she declined.
But when she felt movement next to her, she said she was scared for her life.
The woman said her American Airlines flight 2555 from Orlando to Dallas last Tuesday traumatized her.
She was sitting in seat 15A. Soon after takeoff, she felt movement from the man in 15C.
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“It was so much so that I looked,” she said.
She caught what he was doing on video.
“He was looking directly at me and, like, his body kind of pivoted and (was) facing towards me,” she said. “I can see that his fingers were up his shorts, and they were raised all the way up to his groin area. And he was just, like, fondling himself.”
She escaped from her seat and told the flight attendants. They moved her to the back. She said she asked the attendants for help.
“I was, like, you know what now, like, what do we do from here? Like, do I file an incident report? Like, you know, do I get an escort? Like, something, because I feel unsafe at this point,” she said.
When the flight landed, she said nothing was done. She said the flight attendant never reported the incident to the rest of the plane or airport authorities. The man left without ever being confronted.
She called American Airlines, and its customer service representative said she needed to go online and write a report. The airline offered her 5,000 miles, but said she just wanted accountability.
“As a courtesy for your experience on the flight, we’re going to reward you 5,000 miles, which I thought was such a slap in the face,” she said.
She also called law enforcement officers in Dallas. She said they told her the airline did not follow protocol and the case would have to be handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, because it happened in the air.
Channel 9 reached out to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport about the incident. A spokesperson said airlines are responsible for reporting incidents to airport police.
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“This person should be held accountable,” the victim said.
The woman said she still has not heard back from American Airlines.
Channel 9 has emailed an American Airlines media contact three times since about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, seeking comment.
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